Sleigh-brake



STATES ATENT Fries.

OLIVER A. GORDON, OF AXTELL, NEBRASKA.

SLElGH-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 362,951, dated May 17, 1887.

Application filed February 15, 1887. Serial No. 227,607. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OLIVER A. GORDON, a citizen of the United States, residing at AX- tell, in the county of Kearney and Stateof Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sleigh-Brakes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in sled-brakes and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices, that will be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sled provided with my improved brake. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation showing the position of the brake when used to prevent the sled from sliding too rapidly downhill. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the device to keep the brakes from being applied.

A represents a sled,which is provided with the usual runners, B. To the rear end of each runner is pivoted a curved hook or detent, 0, provided with an arm, D.

E represents a pair of U-shapcd yokes, one of which is secured to the front of each runner by means of clips F,which extend through openings made in the runners and engage the arms of the yokes. By this construction it will be readily understood that the yokes are free to slide longitudinally on the front ends of the runners.

G represents rods which connect the sliding yokes to the arms of the hooks or detents.

H represents a draw-bar, which extends from one of the sliding yokes to the other, and the extremities of the said draw-bar are pivoted in the outer .ends of the said sliding yokes. To the said ends of the draw-bar are pivoted blocks I. Each block is located between the front ends of the arms of one of the sliding yokes, and the said blocks are connected together at their free ends by a crossbar, K, one end of which is provided with a erankarm, L. The length of the pivoted blocks I is such that when the sliding yokes are drawn forward to their full extent the said blocks may be turned rearwardly on their pivots and caused to bear against the front sides of the runners, as shown at Fig. 8.

The tongue is attached to the draw-bar, as shown,

The operation of my invention is as follows: The draft-animals are hitched to the tongue of the sled. On going down a hill,when the sled tends to travel at a greater rate of speed than the animals, the tongue thrusts the draw-bar rearwardly, and thereby causes the sliding yokes to move rearwardly on the front ends of the runners. As the said yokes are connected to the leverarms of the hooks O by means of the rods G, it follows that the rearward movement of the yoke causes the hooks to be turned downwardly, so that their points enter the snow or ice, and thereby impede the progress of the sled, and thus prevent it from moving too rapidly. This brake is also useful in preventing the sled from moving laterally on slippery roads which are sidling.

In order to start heavily-loaded sleds it has heretofore been necessary to cause the team to draw obliquely at the front end of the sled, so as to move the front ends of the runners in a lateral direction in order to dislodge them from the snow or ice, to which they adhere when the sled is stationary. This oblique movement of the sled is very trying to the animals, andcauses a severe strain to be exerted on the tongue, and rendering it possible to break the latter. I avoid these objections by backing the team slightly when the sled stops, so as to cause the sliding yokes to move rearwardly. IVhen the team is started, when it is desired to put the sled in motion, the sliding yokes move forward as soon as the horses start, and cause the strain to be gradually applied to the team in starting the sled, thus rendering it unnecessary to move the latter obliquely.

If it is not desired to use the brakes when going down a hill orin order to back the sled, this may be accomplished by causing the team to draw the sliding yokes forward, so as to raise the points of the hooks, and then turning the truck blocks I rearward by means of the crank-rod, so as to cause the said check-blocks to bear against the front sides of the runners, and thereby prevent the yokes from moving rearwardly thereon, as shown in Fig. 1.

Having thus described my invention, I claim* 1. The combination, with a sled, of detents pivoted thereto, longitudinally-movable yokes supported at the front ends of the runners and connected to the detents, and the draft'bar secured to the yokes, substantially as set forth.

2. The combinatiomwith the sled, of the detents pivoted thereto and means for operating 5 the same, and check -blocks pivotally supported at the front of the sled and adapted to hold the detents out of contact with the ground, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination ofthe sled, the hooks G, pivoted thereto, the longitudinally-movable yokes connected to the hooks to actuate the latter, the tongue connected to the yokes, and the check-blocks adapted to prevent the yokes from moving rearwardly, for the pur- 15 pose set'forth, substantially as described.

4:. In a sled-brake, the combination of the longitudinally-movable yokes to which the tongue is attached, the check-blocks pivoted to the yokes, and the rod connecting the said check-blocks and having the crank-arm, substantially as described. I

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OLIVER A. GORDON.

Witnesses:

FRED. JOHNSON, O. R. LIND. 

